Could've Been Worse
by only-some-loser
Summary: It takes a little longer for Jack to get the doors open, leaving Mac trapped with his assailants in the burning room. (tag to 1x21, Cigar Cutter, alternate ending)


**AN: This is the twenty-first installment of my personal challenge to write a tag for every episode. This is a tag to 1x21, Cigar Cutter, the season finale. It's an alternate ending which picks up while Mac is trapped in the room with the men trying to steal the virus. I hope you enjoy, and please leave a review!**

* * *

Mac heard the cracks and knew it was bad, but not bad enough to puncture a lung, so he pushed through it as soon as he had recovered his breath. Controlling his voice was much harder, due not only to the fear but the pain. They called his bluff, of course, which meant that Mac only had one option: make it not a bluff.

With screaming ribs, he cut the tube and started the fire. The blaze was nearly instantaneous, quickly igniting the room and filling the air with smoke. The men yelled frantically, pushing Mac towards the blaze in an attempt to save themselves just a bit more time to get the door to open, but to no avail. The door was sealed. Mac let out a gasp of pain as the fire burned his arm. It wasn't that bad, but _damn_ it hurt. The men were banging on the glass, but it was bulletproof. That would never work. Mac began coughing as he stumbled towards the door, but the men pushed him back again with a swift punch to his already broken ribs. It took him to the ground and knocked the air out of the blond's lungs, causing him to breath in a large lungful of smoke when he finally got his breath back. The other men were beginning to cough too, with Mac's only getting worse.

Where was Jack? He should have been able to open the doors by now. As if telepathically linked, the doors slid open and gunshots sounded, dropping the men. Mac was still on the ground where the men had left him, struggling to breath.

"Mac!" came Jack's voice. It was loud, but sounded distant at the same time. Mac could faintly register the feeling of being picked up into someone's - Jack's - arms. His ribs strongly protested to the position, causing Mac to let out a whimper of pain. "It's okay, buddy. I got ya."

"Ja-Jack," Mac muttered, eyes falling closed again. He still couldn't breathe, and the darkness came further and further into his being. Finally, he welcomed its painless embrace.

* * *

Watching Mac willingly put himself in danger was one of the hardest parts of the job, especially when there was little to nothing Jack could do about it. This had been such a time. There were the other men Jack had to fend off, but he couldn't not see his partner locked in a room that was quickly filling with smoke and flames. He worked as fast as he could, unlocking the doors and sliding them open the second the other men were dispatched, but he wasn't quite fast enough to save Mac from harm completely.

The kid had been on the floor where the men had dumped him, and had whimpered when Jack picked him up. He would be bringing the kid straight to medical. He didn't seem to be in danger enough to warrant bringing him to one of the waiting ambulances outside, but he definitely needed a doctor. Jack himself was no doctor, but he would guess mild burns and smoke inhalation were the main culprits.

Jack knew Matty would have wanted him to wait with the prisoners, but that's what the rest of the TAC team was for. His kid needed him more. Mac didn't stir as Jack quickly walked down the corridors towards medical, which left the man to his own vivid imagination, images of Mac being trapped in that room as everything burned around him, even banging on the doors and shouting for Jack, but being unable to reach him. Jack shook his head to clear the thoughts from his mind. He had gotten there in time. Everything would be okay. He glanced down at the unconscious blond in his arms, so thankful that he had been able to save the kid when he had. Things could've turned out much worse.

Medical was bustling with activity when Jack got there, doctors and nurses alike milling around and taking care of all the non-life threatening injuries. A pretty, middle aged nurse came right up to Jack when he walked through the door with Mac in his arms. If she hadn't been happily married for years, Jack would've tried to get with her. The woman - Nurse Joy, as she was aptly named - was about his age, possibly a little older even, yet simply stunning. Her Georgian roots mixed well with his Texan ones, making all trips to medical much easier when she got to be the nurse to take care of him or Mac.

"Follow me, and tell me what's wrong with him. I'll get a bed ready," she said, getting right down to business. Joy didn't wait to see if Jack was following her as she began weaving through the crowds towards the private rooms. They soon came upon an available small room, about the size of the average examination room any family physician uses. Joy quickly prepared the bed - if it could even be called that - and Jack laid Mac down on it. He was still out cold.

"Mac was trapped in a room that was on fire. He passed out in my arms," he said simply. Jack hated how something like that could be considered simple to him at this point in his career.

"I'll get him started on oxygen and get his arm wrapped, but I can't do anything else until he wakes up. I don't want to exacerbate any other injuries he may have, and nothing looks too serious," she said. The nurse quickly walked out of the room, only to return less than a minute later with a tank of oxygen attached to a mask. She gently placed the mask on Mac, and got the tank started. He still hadn't stirred. Jack took a step closer to him brushed the kid's bangs out of his face. He'd seen that face behind an oxygen mask more times than he could even remember. Mac was too young for this. Jack continued his ministrations, which seemed to have a calming effect on them both. Mac unconsciously leaned into the touch, and Jack's heart rate slowed to a more normal pace.

Joy cut away the remainder of Mac's sleeve - most of it had been demolished by the fire - and began to treat his arm. Mac twitched in his sleep, and let out a small whimper of pain. As much as it hurt Jack to see his kid in pain, he knew it was a good thing that he was reacting. He continued to card his fingers through Mac's hair, whispering calm reassurances to him, despite the fact that he knew the kid likely couldn't hear them. He was thankful it was Joy taking care of him. The woman had always been very cooperative with their so called "codependence", and knew how much they cared about each other. Being a mother to five and a nurse, she was used to taking care of others, especially kids like Mac.

Within a few minutes, Mac's arm was treated and wrapped. Joy said it was a light second degree burn, and should heal fine within a few weeks. She then left the two alone to go help others, but mentioned that Mac would likely wake up within the hour, so she would be back to check on them. Once the door was closed, Jack went back to his place by his partner, carding his fingers through his hair. He was glad the kid's blond hair hadn't gotten singed. Not only would that have smelled completely horrendous, but the kid would've been really upset about it too.

Jack was left in silence to ponder the many excuses he could come up with to avoid work the next Cairo Day. He was never working that day again, that was for sure, and he wasn't letting Mac work that day either. Jack glanced at Mac's wrapped arm. It would certainly be very painful, but it could have been so, so much worse. There would be no permanent damage or scarring, and Mac should be back to normal within two weeks. That was as much of a miracle as Jack could expect for a day like that.

Jack felt Mac's head move the side under his touch, and gave the kid his full attention. It looked like he was starting to wake up.

"Come on, sleeping beauty. Time to come back," Jack coaxed. Mac groaned softly, but his eyes slowly fluttered open. As soon as he was fully awake, he moaned in pain, one arm reaching up to his ribs. "Hey, bud, how're you feelin'?"

"Like crap," Mac muttered in response, his voice scratchy.

"Your voice sounds like crap too, so you should probably save the talkin' for later," Jack suggested. He was no doctor, but he knew that smoke inhalation was not good for the vocal chords.

Mac nodded, but continued to hold his ribs as he let out a shaky, pain filled breath. This did not go lost on Jack, who remembered his partner's whimper when he had picked him up. Something was wrong with his ribs.

"Let me see," he said softly, motioning to where Mac was holding. The blond hesitantly removed his hand, and let Jack pull up his shirt. He showed more trust in Jack than he did in any doctor. He knew that Jack wouldn't press down on the injury, or do anything to hurt him. The amount of trust he put in Jack was much more than the man thought he deserved, but he would never do anything to break it. Jack inhaled sharply at the deep purple bruise on the kid's ribs. They certainly looked broken, but he would let a doctor say so for sure. Although that would explain the pain Mac seemed to feel.

Within the next few minutes, Nurse Joy came back. She agreed that Mac shouldn't speak for a while, but knew that she had to take him for an x-ray for his ribs. That was the only way to determine if they were broken without hurting him.

"Can you stand?" she asked gently. Jack knew she would find a way to get him to the x-ray even if he couldn't, but it would certainly be easier if he could.

Mac looked from her to Jack, uncertainty in his eyes.

"I'm gonna help you," Jack said, going around to the other side of the bed and gently pulling Mac's unaffected arm around his shoulders. The kid inhaled sharply as he sat up, then stood up, but managed to stay on his own feet. Nurse Joy held onto the oxygen tank and carried it with them as they slowly made their way down the hall. Jack stood right next to Mac as the x-rays were taken, refusing to make him stand on his own, despite the fact that he probably could.

Upon getting back to the room, Mac laid down on the bed again without a single complaint. Jack knew this was a testament to how much pain the kid really was feeling. He would do anything to take his pain, but sadly, being there was really all he could do. Broken ribs sucked, not just because of the pain, but because there was little that could be done for them. Joy quickly confirmed that he did indeed have two fractured ribs, but the breaks weren't terrible, and should heal fine. That was as good of news as Jack was expecting to get. Joy then left the two alone again, instructing then to wait for the actual doctor before leaving.

Mac still wasn't allowed to speak, which would likely be something that lasted for the remainder of the day, but that was okay. Jack could always understand the kid, even without words. During the wait, Matty called Jack and filled him in on everything. Jack then reiterated the information to Mac, who held up a weak thumbs up in response. He chuckled at Mac's inability to speak, earning him a glare from the kid.

"What? You gotta find the silver lining somewhere. With all that that I just said about Murdoc's plan failing and us saving the day yet again, and all you can give me is a thumbs up. I'm gonna take these simple pleasures in life, brother," Jack said with a smile. Mac only glared at him more, his frustration at being ordered to be silent clearly grating on his nerves. The blond settled for rolling his eyes and studying the bandages on his burned arm instead, with Jack quickly swatting away his prying fingers. "That's there to help you, leave it," he lightly scolded. "I swear, sometimes working with you is like working with a dog or something." Mac only looked confused at the remark, but rolled his eyes again, just to show his displeasure at the situation. "Hey man, just be glad it wasn't worse."

Jack knew based on Mac's slight smile that the kid agreed. Despite how much Jack hated having to sit with his partner in medical once again, he couldn't have been more happy that it wasn't worse.


End file.
